Originally posted on Warwick, 1619: Shipwreck Excavation:
The previous week had been grey and miserable. The wind kept shifting and made rounding Castle Roads a choppy passage. For the most part, we were constantly working with the latent threat of a storm. On the morning of the 28th, however, the sun was brilliant, the sky cloudless,…

At last – the Warwick Excavation blog is up and running! Veronica and I are in beautiful Bermuda helping to uncover and document the sunken English galleon Warwick. For the next two months we will be blogging live from the project at http://warwick1619.wordpress.com/ Warwick sank in Castle Harbour, Bermuda almost 400 years ago. The galleon […]

We have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of enthusiasm since we were Freshly Pressed. We deeply appreciate every comment, like, and read – and are thrilled for every new follower. For us, this has been an incredible introduction to hundreds of new blogs! Thank you all so much! So here’s what’s next: We hope that […]

In 1619, when Sir Robert Rich ordered his Galleon Warwick to sail to the American Colonies with a load of much needed supplies, he may have had more than merchant work in mind. Sir Robert, the Earl of Warwick, was a major shareholder in the Bermuda Company. Although his stake in the joint-stock company was […]

Last week a 4th Grader contacted me with some questions about shipwrecks. Actually, he contacted Dr. Crisman first, but I get to answer these sorts of things as 1.) I enjoy public outreach and 2.) I am not trying to finish a book while teaching two classes and serving as Assistant Dept. Chair. I thought […]

Sinkholes are unreasonably complex phenomena – those in rivers doubly so. If you can figure out their geological history, you have a better chance of figuring out how artifacts got there. As far as I can tell, this is not a straight forward task. As time goes by, sinks are subject to slumping, flood deposits, […]

Digging square holes underwater (in low visibility) can get a little ridiculous – it is, however, achievable. To simplify the process, we used an excavation frame built by Jim Dunbar. The design is ingeniously simple. The frame is a two meter by three meter metal grid that can be raised or lowered on poles. Divers […]

We did not expect to be able to see anything in the river. Typically, the Aucilla is blackwater, stained by tannins leeching in from the swamp. In previous years, divers needed powerful lights to work even just 15 to 20 feet from the surface. This was not a typical year. The climate worked in our […]

The beautiful old building is made entirely from local tounge and groove magnolia boards. The deck looks right out over the river where the Aucilla comes rushing up from an underground stretch. Right off the back deck there is a convenient dock where we could load and unload the small boat. The cabin was made […]

The Warwick 2011 field season was wonderfully productive. Consequently, we were endlessly busy. With the season at its close, I have a few breaths to post some project photos. They will not be in chronological order. For a day-by-day account of the Project, see Jason’s Blog at G-EOS. The dive boat arrives at Terry’s dock outside Tuckers […]